EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF THE BREAKAGE OF A 2-DIMENSIONAL CRYSTAL

In this short review, we summarize a study of the mechanical propertie s of two-dimensional single crystals obtained at an air-water interfac e. A micromechanical experiment was performed to keep a crystalline ro d under a bending stress in the plane of the water. The single crystal breaks under the effect of the stress after a clearly defined delay t ime. For large deformations, a second mode of breaking appears and coe xists with the previous mode; a fraction of the solids break instantan eously while others break after a delay time. The time-lag breaking is attributed to the spontaneous nucleation of cracks in the solid under stress.